Hell's Bells Potter
by harrystark
Summary: Master of death Harry Potter meets wizard extraordinaire Harry Dresden. Dresden who is already struggling with necromancers and zombies meets a strange British wizard but is he an ally or another annoying enemy.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The cave sat upon a cliff next to the sea. Its first glimpse reminded him of a similar cave filled with the walking dead. Harry shuddered, he hadn't thought of that night for a long time. He was Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, wizard extraordinaire & the guy with too many hyphenated Names in his life.

He looked at the wand at his side, the elder wand. It was a major Problem of his life. He hadn't been able to get rid of the hallows. They had found their way back to him. He ignored them at first and continued his life, rebuilding the British Wizarding world as an Auror . As a few years passed he realized that he had not aged a single day since the battle of Hogwarts. Hermione instantly went into Research mode. She concluded that Harry had unintentionally bonded with the hallows .

He had become the Master of death, achieving true immortality. What Voldemort had been after his whole life he had achieved with his trademark luck & of course the power of love.

It had been a big blow. After all that he had suffered. When all he wanted was a normal life it was one thing he would not get. Together the famed Golden Trio began to look into ways to reverse the situation... Well he and Ron also contributed. Years of researching with no result demoralized all of them. Ron and Hermione moved on with their life They married each other, they had four kids now and looked set on their way to form their own quidditch team.. He did not begrudge them the happiness, they deserved it.

Nineteen years had passed since the day he took down Voldemort and he still looked the same scrawny kid with unruly hair.

Here he was in Burkina Faso tracking an ancient artifact, the personal cloak of Merlin. It could unravel any enchantment. Well that was what he had heard and read anyways. He was counting on it to end the power of the hallows.

After a year of traveling across the Continent he has finally reached the right place. He could feel the magic in the air. In his years as an Auror he had refined his ability to feel magic. His early exposure to Soul & Mind magic helped in this regard. He drew out his wand and cast a few basic detection spells. He got the readings for a muggle repelling ward and a few wards he did not recognize. Fortunately for him he had developed a serious ward breaking talent.

All wards work in a basic way. Most of them when attacked transfer the spell energy to the ground through a discharging rune block or a ward stone. One can break a ward by simply overloading the ward structure with a barrage of spells at the ward. It can work for small wards with a low power handling capacity. For powerful wards a small army would be required to overload the rune structure. There is another method, the one he favored. It includes redirecting the energy being discharged through the rune block and then a few simple spells would cause the ward to explode out. He focused and was able to get an approximate path flow of excess energy. He then drew out the energy and earthed it without the discharging rune block. He then sent a few schoolyard jinxes at the ward and apparated a hundred yards away from the cave. A large magical blast ensued. Well all that pent-up energy of the ward had to go somewhere. He then apparated to the cave and entered it. Dark and dreary described it perfectly. The ceiling was low. He could not see for more than a few yards in any direction.

_"Lumos Solaris"_ intoned Harry.

A small ball of white light came forth from his wand and hovered in front of was a neat trick, better than using his wand as a flashlight.

He moved further inside the cave, it widened a bit and there in front of him sat a golden pedestal . Upon it shimmering in the light of his spell lay a red …. bed sheet. "Melodramatic much huh Merlin" harry muttered to himself.

He picked up the cloak and felt for the magic.

It was there but something was off. The magic felt intense different more intense, more potent.

Harry felt excitement rise in himself. He could be finally free of the Hallows.

He took out his cloak and the resurrection stone and along with his wand wrapped it up in the…umm cloak. He waited nothing happened for a minute.

"Maybe it needs magic to work" he muttered to himself .

He raised his hand and focused, Wandless magic is difficult as it is and pushed his magic into the cloak .

Harry immediately felt something was wrong as the ground was pulled from beneath his feet. He felt a pull behind his navel.

His last thoughts before he disappeared were "Not Again".


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:I own neither harry potter nor Dresden files. Read and enjoy.

Chapter One

Imagine a portkey, now imagine taking a portkey along with a roller coaster ride, multiply that sensation by thousand and you will get the sensation which he had to endure when he had been lifted off his feet and thrown through time and space by that cursed bed sheet.

After a subjective eternity his feet touched solid ground. His head was spinning. He sat down and tried to clear his head. He recovered and looked around. It appeared like he was in a city. There was a stadium quite similar to a quidditch stadium to the north.

"At least, no graveyards this time" he muttered to himself.

The hallows had appeared beside him but without the bed sheet. He collected them.

The city was dark and dreary like the cave. It felt like a feeling of dark magic permeated the air.

He heard footsteps, looked around and saw a buff guy walking towards him. It was dark to make out any details but the guy was muscular and about his height. It would be just his luck if this guy turned out to be a mugger.

"Do you need any help? Man you should be inside tonight" he spoke with an American accent. As he came closer Harry realized that he was wearing large glasses. Correction a nerd mugger.

"Uh-huh could you tell me where I am?" Harry asked him in what he presumed was an innocent voice.

He looked at Harry in a peculiar way and said "You are near the soldier field".

"Could you tell me in which state I am"

He sighed and said "Man You picked a bad night to get drunk".

He was getting a bit impatient now. "Why? Is Vader coming to town tonight". Hermione had forced him to watch the star wars movies.

He got flustered, spoke slowly as if looking for a reason "It's Halloween".

He should have known, Halloween is his time of the year .Trolls, Petrified cats, assassination attempts and what not. Harry figured he was venting his frustration on the guy. So to make nice he introduced himself

"My name is Harry".

The guy perked up and looked at him curiously. "I guess all Harry's are crazy. I am Billy. I must get a move on. Get behind a Threshold tonight".

He walked off.

"I guess all Yanks are crazy and what the heck is a threshold" Harry yelled loudly towards him.

Harry started walking in the opposite direction from that guy. Within five minutes he saw a big building, a museum if the architecture was anything to go by. Harry saw a board that stopped him cold in his tracks.

It read

Field Museum

Chicago

U.S.A.

"Great just great" Harry had never been to the U.S. in his life. Here he was in Chicago with the hallows for Companionship.

He tried to get a feel for the magic in the air. There was a trail of magic that led to the inside of the building.

He followed his instinct and went inside. The glass of the door had been smashed. He went inside.

Thunder rumbled Lightning flashed, Harry shrieked like a girl and fell flat on his ass. He tried to control his heart rate.

"It's just a skeleton Harry. No dinosaurs coming to eat you tonight" he spoke to himself. There standing in the gallery was an impressive skeleton of a T-REX.

The entire museum lay ransacked. The exhibits destroyed, Artifacts strewn around .He went upstairs. He walked in on a crazy scene.

A really tall guy wearing a ridiculous coat was lying on the floor. His hands and legs were bound with manacles.

He was clearly in pain. An old man was crouching besides him, holding a knife to the man's stomach.

"I have dreamed of this for a long time boy" and caressed the cheek of the man on the ground with his knife.

It was creepy. Harry looked around for movie cameras but they were not there. Then the old man took the knife to the guy's stomach.

Harry rushed into action. He drew his wand and shouted his signature spell

"_Expelliarmu_s"

Scarlet light rushed from his wand, struck the old man head on, lifted him off his feet and threw him into the wall. He slumped to the floor. "

The tall guy on the floor looked at Harry and said "My faith-o-meter just went from zero to thirteen Gazillions in five seconds".

He then looked at Harry's wand.

Poor muggle Harry thought. He has been clearly traumatized.

Who would not be, if a crazy old man tried to do creepy things to you in a museum on a Halloween night.

To give him a reasonable explanation for the spell Harry said "I know martial arts and stuff".

The guy laughed and then fainted.

Harry went to the old man. He was alive. Harry stunned him for good measure and then bound him in conjured ropes.

He then went to the tall man passed out on the ground. He cut the manacles bounding his hands and legs. He then enervated the man.

The guy came around in about ten minutes. He was a middle-aged guy with a hawkish face. He had a lot of scars. Harry noticed that his left hand had been burnt to a crisp.

"Thank you for saving my life. I had almost given up hope "He said. His voice was deep and he spoke in a gentle tone.

"Could you explain what was happening here? I don't like hitting old men"Harry said

"Long Story short. This old man Cassius was part of a group of demons known as blackened denarians. They are killers, terrorists, sociopaths all rolled into one. To be one of those demons you required a cursed coin. Cassius lost his while fighting me a couple of year ago. So he was just exacting his revenge on me"

Harry figured that the guy was telling the truth but demons were an alien concept to him. Could this guy be lying to him? He shelved the question away for the future. He found the guy looking at the old man very intensely

"I told him I will kill him If I meet him again".

"You are not killing anybody. Mate."

"He is dangerous. He needs to die".

"Give him to the Aurors.".

"Aurors?" Dresden asked .

"Wizard police or whatever you call them around here".

"You mean Wardens...Hell's bells I am a warden myself. Okay I can do that."Dresden said.

He was looking at my wand curiously.

"Interesting foci"

Harry winced a bit. Had he recognized the elder Wand?

Then he lifted an honest to God wooden stick with tattoos and said "I prefer old school".

A staff, a freaking staff. How come Hermione never told him that they use staffs in the United states.

They were not getting anywhere like this. If he was an American Auror, maybe he could help Harry

"I am Harry Potter" The guy looked at him like he was crazy or something. Is Harry the name of the devil in Chicago?

He then smiled and said "Nice to meet you. I'm Harry"

"Look I have had a very bad day. It would be appreciated if you don't test my patience".

He chuckled and spoke "All right, No need to get testy. I am Harry Dresden. So what do we call each other? We just can't go around calling each other Harry"

Before he could say anything Dresden said "I get it. You are the Harry with the small stick and I am the Harry with the big stick"

Harry figured why that old man would have wanted to kill him. The guy is annoying.

"So what's going on around here, the city kind of feels too cheerful or something"

The man gave him a smile and said

"Necromancy and black Magic, the necromancers are going to do a ritual in sometime. It will give them unlimited power. The ritual will strip the life force of every living thing around ten miles. Thousands of people will die. I need to stop it."

He paused for a second and continued

" Man, I keep biting off more than I can chew"

Harry did not know if Dresden was serious or not. He then looked at the guy and said

"You are actually telling the truth huh. Pretty Crazy stuff. I will help"

Dresden retorted "It's too dangerous even for me".

Harry smirked "I was born for dangerous. You haven't seen my punches yet"

Dresden paused for a moment and said "Yeah I guess. You took out Cassius with a focused and powerful strike. Anyways I need a drummer".

Harry said "I look like a rock star but I don't do drums".

"Ha ha ha very funny but Mr. Harry with the small stick but we need a necromantic field around ourselves to get close to the ritual and to get a zombie running you need a constant beat.".

During this whole talk Harry Realized that Dresden was averting eye contact and looking the other way. Lightning flashed illuminating the T-Rex skeleton. Dresden was looking at it with an unnerving intensity.

He then asked Harry to wait and went outside. He returned a couple of minutes later with an Honest to god polka set,handed it to Harry asking him to play. it,Harry simply charmed it to play. It wasn't much more difficult than making a pineapple tap-dance across the table.

Dresden's ability to annoy him reached another notch when he asked Harry if he could do God Save the Queen.

Dresden did some stuff with the huge cables making them into a circle around the Dino skeleton, Then he began working his magic.

When Harry saw the result he whistled. Dresden yelled in a loud and boisterous voice

"Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the World's first Dino zombie."


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Harry potter and the Dresden files are the property of J.K Rowling and Jim Butcher respectively.

A/N: The real fun begins now. Lots of action up Ahead. Reviews will be appreciated.

Chapter Two

Harry had not known it but riding a dinosaur is fun. The power one felt when sitting atop a 50 tonne wrecking ball was enormous. They could crush anything or anyone.

Harry had finally found a monster which would give even Hagrid the nookies. Harry wished he had Sue as Dresden has named the Dino Zombie, for the battle of Hogwarts. It would have been great to see the expression on Voldemort and his death eater's faces if he had come charging in while riding a T-Rex.

The atmosphere was charging. A horrible storm had engulfed the city, It was definitely magical .

"There are five wardens who will join us at the campus" Dresden said. While he was speaking, he got distracted and Sue crushed an Army Hummer.

"Mate! Maybe you should focus on the road ahead."

Sue took a turn. She took a turn... and almost took a building off the Chicago map.

Dresden definitely is not going to get his T-Rex Driving license renewed. Up ahead Harry saw the eye of the storm. Dark Clouds were funneling together about two miles to the North.

Dresden touched Sue's flank and sped her up. She got them to a group of Buildings which would not be mistaken for anything other than a College Campus.

What Harry saw shocked him. Even Dresden was silent for a second.

"Hell's Bells" Dresden said.

"Merlin's Balls" Harry said.

"Merlin's Balls, Really" Dresden said while looking at him as if he was crazy. He had got those looks a lot today.

"We will talk later. We have a few other things to focus now." Harry said.

The street in front of them was filled by Zombies, trying to get to the middle of the street where some wizards were fighting for their lives. One of them was an old woman burning down zombies with a focused stream of fire coming out of her fingers. There is something else going on here Harry thought. There is no way that an Auror could perform such feats of wandless magic. But he pushed the doubts out of his mind.

He looked at a middle-aged man literally foot stomping zombies. He stomped his foot down to the ground and a hammered a zombie to the ground with unseen force. He saw another man blasting zombies with green energy. There were two more wizards, both middle eastern fighting the zombies.

An old caddy came thundering along the road. It had a machine gun strapped to the Driver's window.

If the person in the car opened fire on the wizards they would be cut down. Before Harry could draw his wand, Sue took a flying leap and landed in the middle of zombies. One foot on the Caddy and another on a zombie who now was just a grease spot on the pavement. The caddy got converted from a Caddy Car to a candy bar. Sue tore away the roof or at least what passed for roof with her teeth. There was a thing inside. It was not human. It was repulsive and was leaking greenish blood. it was frozen in its seat. Sue ate the guy. Snap, Gulp and no more Caddy driver.

Then Sue started Zombie crushing. She stomped with her foot, She batted dozens with her spiky tail. She also satisfied her appetite during the process. Soon enough the place was free of zombies. They descended from their royal ride. Harry applied a sticking charm to the still beating drum and stuck it to his side. On second thoughts he also applied an unbreakable charm to the drum set.

Dresden gave the Dino zombie a mental order to sit. She sat down on what remained of the caddy.

"Dio, Dresden what have you done" the woman who had thrown needles of fire at the zombies spoke with a slight Italian accent. The other wizards had retreated to a building.

"It is a necessity" Dresden said "Kemmler's Disciples are going to do a ritual called the Dark Hallow which is going to create a necromantic void. It will draw in life from all around it. It will give one of them enough power to make them a god. It will draw life from miles around. Thousands of people will die. So don't give me any crap about the laws of magic or at least wait until this is over"

She stared down Dresden, finally sighed and said

"Look at it wizard, It is repulsive, It's an abomination. Yet it is magnificent"

"Pretty good for Zombie crushing" Dresden said.

"Yes that too" She said. She looked at him and asked" And this is".

"Wizard Potter, Part time drummer at your service" Harry said

"He is a friend" Dresden added.

"I am Warden Luccio. Thank you for helping us Wizard Potter. We Wardens are in your debt" She bowed to Harry.

Harry did not know what to say to that. He bowed back and said"It's my pleasure, I like zombie crushing too".

She looked at the still beating drum and said"It takes a lot of skill to do such magic, Delicate".

Dresden snickered. Did this old woman just call him delicate? Suddenly the door to a building opened and the Zombie stomper dude walked out towards them.

He started ranting "Did I not tell you that Dresden will turn against us. What…."

He shut up as he saw Sue. Well what can he say, Sue had that effect on people.

"Yes Morgan, What were you saying" Dresden said in a mocking tone.

From the way both of them were eyeing each other, Harry got the impression that they were not too fond of each other.

At Luccio's urging Dresden told Morgan about the ritual. Morgan accepted the fact that Dinosaurs were the theme of the day.

"Yoshimo got hamstrung. She can't fight" Morgan said

"Cowl, Grevane and Corpsestaker are the disciples of Kemmler. Sue just ate Corpsestaker's sidekick. I accounted for Grevane's partner. That Leaves Cowl's assistant Kumori and the evil bosses" Dresden said.

"Four of them versus six of us. It could get ugly. Kowalski and Ramirez are new. They have not seen this kind of fight. Even you Dresden have more experience than them and Wizard Potter…"

"I have been in a few scrapes, but nothing of this kind" Harry said which was technically the truth. He had never been involved with Dinosaurs and zombies in the past.

"Morgan you go inside. Bring them up to date. Bring back Kowalski and Ramirez and leave Yoshimo in a place to defend the building"

Morgan went inside.

"How will we know when will they start the ritual" Luccio asked Dresden.

Suddenly there was a loud boom of thunder and the storm clouds started funneling together gathering power and shape.

" I guess the party has begun" Harry said

Simultaneously many ghostly beings just rose out of the ground while some formed from thin air and attacked them. A spear came towards him. Before Harry could put up a shield, Dresden had put up a blue shield, The spear shattered against it. Sparks were coming out of Dresden's bracelet. Harry nodded at Dresden. Harry did not even know if his spells would work against these ghosts or not.

Only one way to find out he thought.

"_Sectumsempera_" He shouted and a ghost zombie lost his neck.

Harry guessed his spells work on them after all.

Harry joined the party with severing curses and Hexes.

"_Reducto_" Harry said blowing a Zombie to bits but others kept coming. He looked around. Luccio was doing her fiery beam of death thing and Dresden. Well Dresden was hitting Zombies on the head with his staff.

Harry had to admit that he could not play whack-a-zombie with his wand. They were slowly being pushed back towards the building.

Time for some real cool stuff. He had seen Dumbledore use this spell in the ministry all those years ago. While studying for his Newt's Harry had come across the spell in an old book. The book had explained that the spell could be used for a variety of things. Time to waste some zombies.

"_Flagellum infernus_" He intoned while rotating his wand anticlockwise.

A ten foot long whip of fire materialized out of thin air. He first took care of the zombies near him by burning them to cinders. He saw Dresden being overwhelmed. He conducted the whip like a lasso and caught three zombies in a loop incinerating them instantly. He then used the whip to drive the others back.

"This is fun" Harry declared.

He then used the whip to get Luccio some respite driving some zombies back. He then used the whip like a fence to keep the zombies away. It was a tough task. He pushed some magic into the spell. The whip flared keeping the zombies away.

"Hell's bells Potter that was amazing" Dresden said.

"It is not the size of the stick which matters; it's what you do with it that matters" Harry said.

Suddenly they heard the sound of screaming from the other side of the building.

"Potter, go help the others, we will hold it here" Dresden said raising his staff.

Harry pulled down the fire whip spell.

"_Ventas Servitas_" Dresden bellowed. His staff bursting into light. He created a gale that lifted the first row of zombies and threw them back.

Harry then apparated to the front of the building. There he saw the Middle Eastern guy, Kowalski fighting a losing battle. He was bruised and bleeding. He was lashing about with his magic displacing mud and earth and swinging a sword.

Harry did not have time for the fire whip spell. Therefore he aimed his wand at the ground near the zombies and said

"_Terra Lenition_"

Brown energy rushed from his wand and hit the ground. It turned the earth around the warden to quicksand. Harry staggered. That spell took a lot of power.

Harry then carefully levitated Kowalski out of the quicksand and on to solid ground.

"Thank You" said Kowalski.

Harry put the boy's hand over his shoulder and they walked inside the building. He saw one wizard fending off the zombies with green light. He carefully got Kowalski settled down.

"_Inferno_" he burned down two zombies who were going to hit the wizard from the left flank.

He and the wizard together made quick work of the zombies.

The man examined Kowalski.

"You are alive. Man I thought you were a goner" He told Kowalski

"The wizard saved me" Kowalski spoke

"You must be Potter, Morgan told us about you. I am Ramirez" He told Harry then turned to the Japanese girl on the ground

"Yoshimo give first aid to Kowalski"

Just then the ground shook as if an earthquake had struck

"I will just go outside and check. You stay with them" Ramirez spoke to Harry and went out.

"_Colloportus_" Harry spoke and sealed the doors after Ramirez had gone down.

The girl looked at him and said"Will that stop them from coming in"

"No but It would give us a warning" Harry told her.

Harry could figure she was afraid. There was a huge rumbling sound and Harry thought that he heard Dresden shouting for help.

"I will be back" Harry told the girl.

Harry apparated back into the battle.

The first thing he heard was the sound of a gun going off.

The first thing he saw was Ramirez holding a smoking gun and standing with a girl.

Morgan lying on the ground, Without any further thinking Harry hit Ramirez with a repulso. It him and threw him into the wall.

Morgan, Dresden and the girl all looked at him with different expressions. The girl looked at him in anger and Morgan in confusion.

"What have you done Potter" Dresden spoke to him while gritting his teeth.

"I saw him fire on Morgan. I thought he was with the enemy."

"Fuck you. Damn this whole situation." Dresden cursed.

Only then did he realize that the girl Ramirez was standing with had slumped to the ground.

"Morgan It is I. Captain Luccio Your Commander. The Corpsestaker switched bodies with me after I defeated and wounded her".

Morgan looked shocked and speechless.

The girl took her sword and flicked it around a bit. "Could another use my blade as such"

Morgan stammered" I saw him shoot you, I thought you had died".

Meanwhile Dresden was examining Ramirez. Harry concluded what had happened. Luccio had fought this Corpsestaker. She had defeated her but at the last second Corpsestaker had switched bodies with her. Dresden had found out what had happened and shot Luccio. Morgan had seen it. Things had degenerated from there.

"Boy what a mess" Harry muttered to himself.

Harry went over to Luccio. He saw that she was losing a lot of blood near the rib cage. Harry concentrated drew a circle with his wand and intoned

"_Vulnera Sanentur_".

The wound closed and the blood stopped flowing.

"You know healing too. Now I am truly impressed." She rasped.

"I have just closed the wound. You should have it looked at by a healer" Harry told her.

Dresden spoke" Ramirez has a huge bump on his head. I don't think he is going to bust any necromancers today".

"That leaves the two of you. The bullet shattered Morgan's knee. Both of you are powerful. You can do it" Luccio said.

"That was a very boring motivational speech, Captain" Dresden told her.

"I am a bit inconvenienced Warden Dresden. Don't waste any time. Go."

Dresden met his eyes "Let's go Potter"


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or Dresden's files

A/N: Here is some cool action as well as the soul gaze between Harry and Harry. Read , Enjoy and Review.

Chapter Three

After the talk with the Wardens Harry and Dresden mounted Sue. Dresden touched Sue's flank and sent a flicker of magic to get her moving.

"Cowl, Kumori and Grevane are still out there. We have to make a plan. What do you suggest?" Dresden said.

"I usually follow shock and awe" Harry replied.

"I like it. We will first hit Grevane together. Then I will take on Cowl and you fight Kumori. I have fought Cowl before. I can take him on. You defeat Kumori and then help me take down Cowl"

"Fine" Harry replied.

"How sensitive is this ritual they are attempting?" Harry asked Dresden.

"Very Sensitive, He is going to devour a tornado of spirits for energy. If we hit him then it will result in a backwash of energy which would kill him. Though you would want to disappear as it happens. What was that disappearing trick you pulled after that fire whip?"

"I apparated. Wait you can't do apparition".

"We usually have potions for such things. I have not heard of anybody doing it with his magic".

Dresden took a turn in the opposite direction from the center of the storm.

"Aren't we supposed to go towards the storm". Harry pointed out to Dresden.

"We will be hitting them from behind" Dresden said.

They circled around the block quickly. Finally some luck went their way as the person who had stationed the zombies had not thought of anybody coming around to hit them. The picnic tables were used as barricades. Hundreds of zombies were looking the other way. The storm Clouds were funneling together gathering pace. They broiled angrily. Harry could see that they were not just clouds, He could see spirits of long past, tormented ghosts among the clouds. A sense of wrongness emitted from the cloud. It was against nature.

"We have to jump "Dresden said.

Harry did not say anything. He just jumped. He cast a cushioning charm on the ground as he fell. He rolled with the fall and came up in a standing position. He felt Dresden at his back.

"Let's show these zombies how to kick ass" Dresden said

"Less talking more work" Harry shot back.

"_Bombarda_" he shouted blowing apart half a dozen zombies in a massive explosion.

"_Fuego_" Dresden shouted throwing a gout of flame as thick as his wrist into the throng of Zombies blowing up a couple of them and incinerating many others.

Harry threw out a lot of spells and he felt more than saw Dresden throwing a lot of power around but for every zombie they killed another one took its place.

Time for some heavy-duty stuff he thought to himself

"Stay Close Behind me" They both said to each other at the same time.

"_Inferno Maxima_" Harry said

"_Fuego Pyro Fuego_" Dresden spoke. They both said it at the same time.

And the world exploded in heat and fire. For the next few seconds Harry could think of nothing. His whole focus and concentration was on keeping the fire away from himself and in front of him. He had a feeling Dresden was doing the same. All around him was fire. The heat was so intense that the pavement around their feet cracked and splintered. The glass in the buildings around them shattered. The heat sucked the oxygen out of the air. Harry couldn't breathe. After ten seconds Harry stopped the flow of Magic. He took a deep breath and looked around. Dresden's face was filled with sweat, his hair were singed.

Harry thought he must have looked the same.

"We are like Human Flamethrowers" Dresden deadpanned

"Only infinitely more dangerous" Harry spoke

They looked around. A tall and pale man was standing forty yards away from them. He was tapping around a book on his thigh. Harry did a nonverbal charm.

The expression on his face said it all. He was terrified.

"That's Grevane" Dresden muttered to Harry.

They both strode towards Grevane. Grevane panicked focused on them and started drumming his book on his thigh. Except for the sound of thump thump coming from it, the sound that came was of something flopping about. He lifted his hand and looked at the severed zombie hand which was dissolving into semi solid gel. He was holding it as Harry had switched it with his book with a clever use of a switching charm. Confusion remained etched on his face as the zombies turned on him and tore him to shreds.

Sue joined them and made short work of the zombies.

"What Now" Harry said as he looked around. The cloud of Black Magic had molded into the shape of a hurricane and was hovering a few feet off the ground.

"Now we find Cowl and Kumori and turn off the ritual" Dresden spoke.

Harry's instincts screamed at him and he erected a wordless shield just as well because half a second later a massive force blast hit his shield, barreled through it and hit him with the force of a speeding truck. The blast lifted him off his feet, he was thrown through the air like a rag doll. He hit the side of a building and almost blacked out.

He couldn't see anything beyond pain. He was battered and exhausted. Harry had enough experience with broken bones to know that his left hand had broken.

He reached out to the pain and allowed it to encompass him, not blocking the pain but feeling it become one with him. It was a occlumency technique which doubled up a pain management technique.

Five minutes later Harry felt coherent enough to rise. He rose and took stock of himself. Yup, He was right. He had broken his left hand. He petrified the hand. It was painful but necessary to stop further damage to the bone.

He put a disillusionment charm on himself and started walking towards the center of the arena. Dresden was inconvenienced as in a girl holding a knife to his neck otherwise he was fine.

Cowl, Well Cowl was hovering a few feet over the air. The tip of the tornado had passed between his lips. He was going to devour the tornado. This guy was going to take indigestion to freaking new heights. The time to break up his party has come. Harry apparated to a place near Dresden silently.

"_Expelliarmus_"

He hit Kumori with the charm throwing her out of the immediate area. He hit Cowl with a whopper of a banishing charm throwing him back and disrupting the ritual

"_Fortum Aegis_" He barked.

A shimmering silver shield appeared in front of him covering him and Dresden. He saw Dresden has employed his own blue shield. The whole storm cloud, the tornado stilled for a second. Than it bore down on the ground, on him and on his shield with such force that it broke his shield and threw him into the air. Harry landed and then appropriately blacked out.

When Harry came around the first rays of Sunshine were falling on the earth. Dawn was enveloping the earth. He looked around for Dresden.

He did see Dresden lying a few feet from him. But someone or rather something was standing above him. The Giant stood at least eight feet tall. He even had horns. He was built like a wrestler. His face was rough and brutish. He had the aura of a predator. Even few feet away from him Harry could feel his aura affecting him. Could this be a demon that Dresden was warning him about?

"Get off him" Harry shouted to the man.

The man mountain looked at him and tilted his head as if curious.

"Who thou art Wizard" He rumbled in a deep baritone.

"I am Potter and I would like to ask you to get off Dresden"

"I meanest him no harm. He pleased me with his calling of the old hunter the night before. One who had not walked the earth since millennium."

"I will give him your message".

The guy looked at him keenly"Thou art not of this world Wizard. Why put yourself in mortal peril for them".

"I don't know what you are talking about" Harry had a thought but he put that in the deepest part of his mind.

"Denial, Wizard always amusing to see. I met another like you once. Sharp his tongue was, tricked me into giving him a palace"

"Who was he?" Harry asked.

"Time to leave has come. I hope I could have the fortune to hunt you someday "The entity said

Then he disappeared.

"Weird Guy" Harry muttered to himself.

He checked over Dresden. The guy was alright. He was just exhausted. This man was a fighter. a warrior and dare he say it his first friend in the U.S.A.

After he defeated Voldemort, A few renegade death eaters and some Dark Lord Wannabe's had tried to get to him through his friend. After a particular incident when Neville had been almost kidnapped, Hermione had come up with a way to keep track of all their friends. He lifted Dresden's hand and shook out his bracelet. He then applied a long-lasting tracking charm on the bracelet. He then drew a permanency rune on the bracelet with his wand. It would work well for at least a whole year.

Dresden came to his senses a couple of minutes later.

"Damn My head feels like somebody used it as a punching bag "Dresden spoke.

"Welcome to the club" Harry spoke.

"So what happened?"

"I hit Cowl with a spell. Then the ritual backfired. Cowl is dead I believe unless he had some way of escape" Harry said

"Simplest explanation is the best. He is dead. End of story for me"Dresden spoke.

He continued "Thanks for your help. I couldn't have done it without your help"

Harry replied "I am sure you would have found a way. . But we made a great team huh"

Dresden said"Yup Team Dresden rocks".

Harry met his eyes and got pulled into them. There was a mental intrusion and his mental shields got blown apart as if they were not there.

He was in a place that had weathered the storm of time. He could see the past of the area, feel it. It had once been a beautiful garden full of life and vigor. It had then slowly withered away as if all the life and love has been leached off slowly. Then it had been rebuilt and destroyed so many times that Harry's heart wept as he looked at it. Now again some love and life was coming back into the place. It was as if the place was afraid of love, how easy it was to lose it. Some life and love was festering in a small corner of the place.

Standing guard over the area was the most beautiful angel of death Harry had ever seen. Harry knew he was seeing Dresden as he was. All that made him. He had a sword of fire in one hand. He was fighting the darkness in the shadows all the time. The darkness in himself. The shadows were close, but the angel always kept vigil .

Dresden's POV

*** Harry looked into those green eyes and got pulled into them. Oh no, this was what he was afraid of. He did not like soul gazes.

Harry was in a huge Castle. He saw potter standing over a well … Suffice it to say that he had seen less ugly demons. Potter's posture was one of defiance, he simply oozed confidence.

His eyes full of satisfaction and determination. Hundreds of images were flying around him. A baby in a crib seeing his mother murdered. Potter killing a Serpent which came straight out of hell and hundreds of images. He felt the fear and despair of death, the pain of separation, of losing people close to you.

Underneath it all he saw the person full of love and life, who had battled his inner darkness and won. The soulgaze ended.

"Hell's bells Potter What are you"

"Harry just Harry. What just happened?"

"It was a soul gaze. Whenever a wizard looks somebody in the eye, they see the essence of the other person laid bare, and vice-versa"

" I don't think you are a member of the council."

"No"

"The wardens will have to include you in their report. If they do so then the Council will call you and they will induct you with a ceremony and all"

"That would be bad because"

"They will dig into your past and if they saw what I see then it could lead to problems. But since they made me a Warden I have the authority to include somebody into the council provided they pass the test"

"So did I pass the test "

"You did so with flaming colors"

"Look Why don't you go and check on the wardens. I will join you in a minute." Dresden said

Harry got the impression that he was hiding something but he went anyway.

The wardens were all right. He even apologized to Warden Ramirez for hitting him. They all then drove to the house of Dresden's friend.

Dresden wrote out the letter that inducted him into the council.

He then took Harry aside to talk.

"What are your plans now?" He asked.

"Well I want to go back to Britain. Revisit a few friends" He replied.

"You can go with the wardens. They will be going back to our headquarters in Scotland through the nevernever" Dresden said

Harry did a double take. "Your headquarters are in Scotland." He spoke.

"Yeah, Look man I don't understand what I saw in the soul gaze but I get that you are a good man. Anytime you need help, Contact me. " He gave Harry his card.

"Even you anytime you want some zombies busted, I will be there"

Later in the Day, a group of healers came to the place and worked on Luccio. The person leading them was Wizard "Listens to wind".

Harry decided to go with the Wardens. Who knows finding a new method of travel could come in handy and he was a bit curious about the Council.

With these thoughts in mind Harry stepped into the vertical rip in air which the wizard had opened and left U.S.A


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Harry potter and the Dresden files are the property of J.K Rowling and Jim Butcher respectively.

Author's Note:

Here is the next chapter, guys. I appreciated all the reviews and tried to improve my writing style. Thank all the guys who reviewed or put the story in their favorites and follows list. It means a lot.

Read, Enjoy and Review.

Chapter Four

Harry emerged in a dark wood covered with a layer of snow and frost as he passed through the vertical rip in reality. He felt the change as much as he saw it. He was somewhere alien, somewhere different. The place hummed with magic. The dark wood, the snow everything around him was magic. It was an unsettling experience. He was standing at the summit of a huge mountain. Behind him was a chain of snowy mountains as high as any he had ever seen. A trail led through a path in the mountains.

"It leads to Arctis tor" Ramirez spoke when he saw Harry glancing at the mountain pass. At Harry's confused look he clarified

"It is the stronghold of winter, Mab's Castle."

"The one from the stories" Harry asked Ramirez. Harry had vaguely heard about her somewhere, a malevolent queen of fairies.

"The one and only, the stories don't do her justice."

"Ramirez, Stop dawdling and start moving, this is the nevernever." Wizard Listens-to-wind spoke.

"Of course, Sir" Ramirez replied in a very polite voice.

Harry was feeling cold. He was just wearing a shirt borrowed from Dresden, on which he had used a shrinking charm. It did nothing to stop the cold though. He took out his wand to cast a warming charm on himself and almost dropped it with shock. The wand felt different. It was humming with power. It felt as if he had been using a submachine gun and it had suddenly turned into a RPG. Wisely he refrained from using it to cast a warming charm on himself until he knew better. Getting fried from his own overpowered charm just wasn't his style.

The weary and battered group of wizards started making their way along a trail beside the mountain. The trail was surrounded by thick trees on both sides, which were looming above them as if trying to reclaim the trail and obliterate it. On second thoughts considering that it was a spiritual world which existed alongside the mortal world, it was totally possible.

The hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled uneasily. His instincts told him that they were being watched. He looked around the woods, the undergrowth was thick and things could easily hide among the shadows.

Suddenly Wizard Listens-to-wind stopped and put up a hand ordering others to do the same.

A thing came out from the shadows. Well calling it a cat would be a understatement. It looked more like a Saber toothed Tiger. It was huge and its yellow eyes belied intelligence.

Harry almost lost it when the cat thing spoke. The voice sounded raspy.

"Mortals, you have no right to pass upon this land"

"We were given the right to transverse the land by Queen of Air and darkness herself, Malk. Let us depart in peace" Listens-to-wind replied.

Ramirez opened his big mouth and said "You don't want to fight us".

"Nice Kitty" Harry said.

When all the others wizard turned to look at him, he amended

"I am new to this, all right"

Harry noticed that during the standoff, they had been surrounded by more Malks who had appeared from the forest. Their golden eyes shining in the dark. They were all moving towards him and Ramirez.

"How do we kill them?" Harry asked Ramirez while drawing out his wand.

"I haven't fought them before. Though burning them seems like a good bet."Ramirez replied.

Suddenly Wizard Listens-to wind took out his staff a stick of brown wood unblemished by any markings and gave it a slight flick. A blast of force lifted the lead Malk and threw him twenty feet away into a tree. The sound of bones breaking could be easily heard. All the other malks suddenly scattered and disappeared.

The wizard contingent began moving, this time more urgently. Harry noticed that they were moving in a formation, keeping the injured wardens in the centre with the other wizards covering them.

"Ramirez, We won against the necromancers, right then Why are the other wizards so downcast"

"You don't know…We won against the necromancers, but the red court has sucker punched us. Those fucking vampires will get their due. We lost more than a 100 wardens in the recent red court attack"

That had to be a sizeable portion of their fighting force. Well that explains the surliness.

After an hour of walking they reached a clearing where a warden wearing a grey cloak was standing guard.

"O warden, we seek entry to the hidden halls, May we pass" Wizard Listens-to-wind spoke in a formal voice.

"You may pass" The Warden replied with a smooth British accent.

Harry entered the gate along with the others. They entered a long tunnel sloping upwards. Crystal lights were fixed on the walls of the tunnel, giving it an unreal glow.

They walked for about fifty feet and then came to an open area.

Ramirez said "Let's go I am starving, we will get something in the cafeteria"

Listens-to-wind said"No, Ramirez. Luccio and Morgan are injured. You would have to report to the senior council. Wizard Potter, I am told, you did a lot of the fighting. If you don't mind could you join him"

Harry replied "I mind actually. But you seem like a decent guy. So I will go with him"

"Let's go" Ramirez said. They started walking further into the fortress.

"I noticed that you act very respectively towards the guy." Harry spoke.

"He is a senior council member and still a nice guy" Ramirez said

"What is this senior council?"Harry asked.

"Well they are the powerhouse of wizardry. The seven most experienced and powerful wizards all over the world."

"Sounds overblown and pompous" Harry replied.

"Well you haven't seen them at work. A freaking satellite….."Ramirez phased out.

They entered a room. There were six wizards seated in the centre of the room. They were arguing about something with each other. There was another wizard sitting in a corner scribbling on some papers.

As Ramirez released the door, it clanged shut with a loud bang. All the six wizards present pinned them with their stares.

"Come here Warden Ramirez" an old man with a jovial voice and a very slight Irish accent spoke.

Ramirez moved to the centre of the room. Harry followed him.

Harry looked at all the council members in turn. Seated at the farthest corner was Wizard Listens-to-wind. Sitting alongside him was the man who has just spoken. He was of average height, stocky built. He had a lean angular face with a lot of laugh lines. He reminded Harry of somebody, though Harry couldn't pinpoint who.

Sitting alongside him was a tall European woman with sharp features. Beside her, well Harry looked again. For a second there he thought that the guy was Dumbledore, Tall man with a long beard, glasses and robes. The cold eyes and the sharp gaze though weren't Dumbledorish and Dumbledore would never wear such a bland blue robe. Sitting alongside him was a man with a receding hairline, a bulging belly and beady eyes.

"Honored Merlin…"Ramirez began

"Merlin" Harry began almost aggressively.

"He is not..."Ramirez interrupted but Harry continued

"I have a bone to pick with you"

Technically it was a bed sheet, but I have a bed sheet to pick with you would sound really really odd.

"He is not the real Merlin, Potter. The leader of the white council is given the title of the Merlin" Ramirez blurted.

"Oh" Harry said. He was so never going to use Merlin in curse words ever again

"Pray tell, who he is" The Merlin said. His voice was a drawl as if he was mocking Harry with his words. Harry recognized the tone, this guy was a politician.

"Harry Potter" Harry replied.

"Why is he present here?" one of them asked.

Ramirez said"He did the council a great service. Dresden along with him shut down the ritual the necromancers were attempting".

After Ramirez's announcement, the Merlin's expression turned sour.

"Began the De-briefing Warden Ramirez" The female wizard said.

Ramirez began recounting the whole episode. When he got to the part about Dresden and Harry's entrance, the Merlin spoke

"Necromancy is such a vile practice. That is a violation of the fifth law. This shows that Dresden does not respect the Laws. He does not possess rational judgment befitting a wizard. He..."

"Arthur, it was necessary. Thousands of people would have died if Warden Dresden would not have done what he did." The old Irish Guy said.

"This discussion is not finished Wizard McCoy. Continue Ramirez"

Without any further interruptions, Ramirez was able to complete his report along with Harry chiming in from time to time.

"Good Work Boys, The council needs more valiant efforts like this to avenge our fallen friends. Now go and take some well deserved rest."Wizard McCoy said.

The Merlin spoke "Wait a Minute, Wizard Peabody bring the reports please"

The wizard who had been scribbling in the corner rose and came towards them.

He came to Harry and asked him to sign the report.

Harry took the quill and signed at the bottom. Some of the ink stained his fingers.

"Warden Ramirez, You are dismissed. Wizard Potter, The senior council has some questions for you if you don't mind"

Oh crap Harry thought.

"I am quite tired. Zombie smashing takes some effort" Harry spoke.

McCoy snorted. The Merlin glared at him.

Then the senior council sat down again.

The Merlin began

"Who are you?"

"I think we cleared that. I am Harry Potter"

"Who taught you magic?"

I went to a magic school wasn't going to cut it, so he replied

"An old man"

"His name" The Merlin asked

"Albus Dumbledore"

Harry thought of adding Dumbledore's numerous achievements then decided against it.

"Was he a Council Member?"

"No, he sort of didn't qualify"

McCoy spoke up"Let the kid take a breath, Merlin. What is this all about?"

Merlin said "Something about all this doesn't feel right. After the recent disaster, we should be more careful"

Then Listens-to-wind spoke up" Merlin, after the recent losses, we need all the Wizards we can get"

The Merlin sighed and said

"Wizard Potter, You can go"

Harry got out from the room. Ramirez was waiting for him outside the room.

"What did they want" Ramirez asked him.

"Some zombie crushing tips" Harry replied.

"Let's get to the cafeteria, I am starving."

They began moving through the intricate tunnel network.

"How big is this place" Harry asked him.

"Almost as big as the city above it. We have many levels we don't use."

After about ten minutes of walking they reached a small cafeteria. A few other people were eating there.

Ramirez ordered sandwiches and they began to eat.

Harry contemplated on what has happened to him lately. All these people, the nevernever, and the strange brand of magic they use, it felt as if he was in an alien place. What that giant had said weighed heavily on his mind. Could he have travelled across dimensions? It was possible; the department of mysteries had a freaking sub department which researched inter dimensional travelling. It could be possible that he had travelled to another dimension.

That had to be fucking unfair. It was like fate was using his life as its personal entertainment programme. Why him? A part of his mind said that he had been playing around with ancient magical artifacts, it was his own fault. Harry ignored that part of his mind. It was the principle of the thing.

If he had travelled across dimensions, then he had to get back. There was only one common point between the magic of his world and the magic these people used. It was Merlin.

Suddenly a hush settled over the cafeteria.

At the entrance of the cafeteria, a tall man was standing. He was over seven feet tall. He was wearing a dark blue robe, along with a hood that hid his head. He started moving towards them. Harry noticed that he held a staff in his hand.

"Greetings, Gatekeeper" Ramirez said.

"Warden Ramirez" The gatekeeper nodded to Carlos and then turned towards him.

"You, Come with me. We need to talk" His voice was deep with a slight British accent.

Harry had been thrown, beaten and messed up with a lot in the last day. His ego had suffered enough without following orders from every guy who carries a long stick and wears robes.

"Who the hell are you? And my mom told me not to go with strangers" Harry told him.

The gatekeeper came towards him and lifted a hand. Harry felt a sonic shield go up around them both. The gatekeeper drew back his hood showing the scarred face of a Middle Eastern man with an artificial eye.

"You will come with me Master of death because otherwise, you will be beaten, eaten and shitted out within a month"

Harry's mind got paralyzed and his mouth worked on autopilot.

"Oh crap"

The gatekeeper put on his hood, took down the sound barrier and exited the cafeteria. Harry had no choice but to follow.

Harry followed the hulking form of the gatekeeper for a few minutes. Both of them stayed silent, the gatekeeper by choice and Harry by shock.

After a few freaking years of walking they reached someone's living quarters. By first appearance it appeared normal, a comfortable looking drawing room consisting a Sofa, a table, few chairs and an inner gate leading to the rest of the quarters.

The gatekeeper closed the gate (pun unintended) and removed his hood. He then sat down on one of the chairs and motioned for Harry to sit.

"How do you know that I am the Master of death" Harry asked him.

"It was foresight." the gatekeeper replied.

"A freaking seer, Now just don't tell me that there is a prophecy."

"Not a seer just foresight. I don't know about any prophecies."

"So, You know who I am, Do you know where I am from"

"No, though you are not from this world. I am certain. The fabric stretches to accommodate you. If I had not checked you with my sight I would have thought you an outsider. I think that the term Alternate Universe applies."

"Sight, Outsider. This is just getting too much for me. Can you help me?"

"Depends on, what you are asking for"

"I want to get back to my home world. Huh saying it makes me feel like a star wars character"

"That is not possible for me. Though know this as I do. You are from the same world as Merlin was. So if you want to go back, you should find out more about him"

Harry leaned back into the sofa. This was just like the talk he had with Dumbledore at the end of the fifth year. His mental state was quite the same. He really had an urge to throw things.

"What was that you said about me being beaten and eaten, those kinds of words cause me hypertension."

"You are not of this world; you have an aura that projects itself outward. You will attract supernatural predators wherever you go. You are powerful but they will hit you with numbers. I believe an altercation took place on your way from Chicago to Edinburgh"

"So I have an…. aura leakage. Man that's embarrassing. You can fix that right."

"No, it can't be fixed."

"So, what do I do next?"

"I recently came from a senior council meeting. The Merlin is suspicious of you. He would have us investigate your background"

"Which you will not find"

"Yes, Council Politics will eat you without skipping a beat. The Merlin is dead set against you." Then the Gatekeeper continued

"There is one way by which you could be saved"

"Man, you do like the suspense thing. Can't you come out and speak it in one go"

The Gatekeeper moved to a drawer. With a spell, opened it and took out something. He threw Harry a brown robe. Harry caught it.

"You could become my apprentice"

Harry thought about it.

"I am too old to become an apprentice."

"One is never too old to learn." Then the gatekeeper continued. "You need someone to show you the ropes. Teach you about the monsters."

Harry looked at the robe. He had stopped wearing robes after Hogwarts. They were so impractical. "You've got to be kidding me. I have to wear this thing"

"Only on formal occasions" the gatekeeper replied in an amused tone.

"I could work with that….. What do I call you? I am not so calling you Master or some variation thereof"

The gatekeeper's lips twitched at the corners

"My name is Rashid"

Harry suddenly had a thought

"Why help me" He asked.

"There's an old saying Keep your friends close, Keep your enemies closer"

The tension in the room suddenly increased. Harry's hand twitched towards his wand.

Rashid spoke suddenly" You can't even take a joke, Apprentice"

Harry sighed"You had me worried for a moment there, but really why help a stranger"

Rashid went to the drawer and took out a brown bottle.

"Thanks, I really need a drink" Harry said

"No drinks for apprentices. It messes with their focus and concentration"

"Screw you" Harry took out his wand and cast a nonverbal accio. The bottle flew into his hands.

Harry took a swig from the brown bottle. It was not butter beer but it was even better.

"Interesting" Rashid replied "As to your question, you will get your answer in time." He continued "Rest Now, Apprentice. Tomorrow we have to travel."

With that he moved into the inside of the quarters.

Harry took out his wand and transfigured the sofa into a bed. It took him some time, but he was able to transfigure it into a decent sized bed.

Harry conjured some sheets and crashed onto the bed. He was spent both magically and emotionally. He closed his eyes and fell into the arms of sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter and Dresden Files. If I did would I be here.

Chapter 5

He shaped the energy to his will. The energy calculations running in his mind, he envisioned the flow of energy directing it towards a particular goal.

"Vestigium" he whispered and broke the circle with an effort of will.

The strip of cloth in his hand suddenly leaned towards the left. He followed the tracking spell and it led him to the cloak he had tracked.

Harry blew out a breath and cancelled the spell.

Thaumaturgy came easily to him, evocation or destructive combat magic not so much; it left him too tired to act. Though the staff he had carved out should help with it.

After intensive thinking and observations, Harry had concluded that the magic both used were the same. Harry and the rest of the Wizarding World had better control over their magic than the wizards of the white council. The White Wizards, Harry had taken to calling them that as it sounded better than ' The wizards of this world' in fact gathered up their magic and threw it out into the world, only their will and focus guiding the magic, while his kind could shape the magic and changed it as it left their wands. Though combat wizards were pretty much the same on both sides, they existed to wreak havoc and destruction.

A knock on the door disturbed Harry from his musings. Harry opened the door and found Ramirez standing there with that famous infuriating grin on his face.

"Wipe that grin of your face or I will do it for you" Harry told him.

"Why Harry, I know my good looks make you feel bad about yourself but there is no need to be so rude"

"Rude my ass. So do you have a reason for disturbing me?"

"C'mon you have hidden in that room for weeks. I came to make sure that you haven't starved."

Carlos's expression suddenly changed. The grin disappeared

"Look mate, whatever happened was wrong but that kid had used black magic to kill people. He was too far gone. You couldn't have done anything. No one could have…."

Harry found anger stirring inside him. He pushed it down. Maybe Carlos was right but it didn't give the council the right to kill anybody they wanted.

"Fifteen Carlos, he was fifteen."

"I know" Carlos said in a softer tone. He continued

"The reds have attacked the Venatori Umbrorum. They have also attacked our base in North Europe and taken many wizards with them. The senior council is discussing a counter attack as we speak. I figured you would have wanted in"

"Damn Right I want in"

Harry had gone on a few missions with the wardens, some of them against the red court. The red court vampires were true monsters. He had no qualms about fighting and killing them. He had seen the monsters do things; things that made him shudder to the bone.

"Wait up a moment while I pick up a few things" Harry told Ramirez.

He went back into the room and picked up his cloak. He also picked up a chalk and holy water and some other thaumaturgy weapons. Never know when you would need it."

"Let's go" he told Ramirez.

"So any news from Dresden" Ramirez asked him.

"Called him four months ago. Why do you ask?"

"No reason just trying to start a conversation"

"Don't you have your charming wit and personality for that?"

"It only works on girls"

They reached the War room and found it a flurry of activity. Wizards were running everywhere

Morgan intercepted them and told Ramirez

"Get ready, you are with McCoy's team"

Morgan gave him a stare that he hoped would kill him. He left in a hurry, most probably to kill some puppies for warm up.

"I don't know what that guy has against me"

"You pranked him potter. Seriously when he realized he was wearing a Mickey Mouse outfit, for a second I thought he was going to use his death curse on you"

"I was just trying to cheer him up. Bloody wanker with a stick up his…"

Before he could express his thoughts on the placement of the stick in Morgan's anatomy, they were interrupted by a very cute and pretty girl in her twenties. She had curly brown hair and dimples on her cheek.

"Captain Luccio. How can we help you" Harry asked her in polite tone. She may look like a cute girl but she wasn't.

"Wizard Potter, May I speak to you for a minute in private"

"Sure Captain. Lead the way"

They walked through a side door into an empty room.

Harry whipped out his wand and nonverbally cast a muffliato.

"Now there, we can talk privately"

"We have been contacted by someone who has kidnapped Harry Dresden and is willing to let him go for a Ransom"

"Uhh…. Dresden got himself kidnapped. I will gladly join the rescue team. I owe that guy a solid"

Luccio hesitated

"That was the matter I wished to talk to you about. The council's policy is of non-negotiation with kidnappers. In the current climate the Merlin has forbidden a rescue operation as a major battle may break out at any moment and we need all the wardens we have."

"That Son of a bitch."

"Kindly refrain from insulting the Merlin. As I was saying you are not a Warden and not bound by orders to fight today. So if you were to visit Chicago and help Dresden, It would not break any rules or orders."

"All right, I will leave for Chicago at once."

"Look for that police officer he works with sometimes, Karrin Murphy. She may know something about him"

Harry raised an eyebrow

"Dresden's got a cop chick working with him. Don't worry I have other methods to find him. "

Harry took down the anti-eavesdropping charm and left the room muttering about old coots and their nefarious plots.

He said a quick goodbye to Ramirez not telling him anything.

"Look at the positive side. You can keep up plausible deniability this way"

Ramirez sulked and it made his inner child happy. Harry then passed through many Warden Check points, got past the stone dog things they had for security and crossed outside the Council Headquarters

He reached into his core drew out his magic, focused on splitting reality, waved his hand and whispered

"Aparturum"

Opening a gate into the nevernever, the spiritual realm, specifically a forest with ancient trees and many predators.

He stepped through the gate and healed the rift in reality he had created.

He remembered the route via which they had come to Edinburgh. He set out on it fueled with determination to save his first friend in this world.

Three hours later

Harry finally sighed with relief as he spotted the summit of the mountain that would be his entry point into Chicago.

The one hour walk had taken him three hours to complete because he was attacked so many times. He had been attacked by malks, trolls, ogres, goblins and weird bat like creatures. He had come out for the most part unscathed.

"Freaking Aura Leakage Got to stop it some way"He muttered under his breath.

He reached the required spot, opened another gate and re-entered the real world.

He had two options now. Look for the cop chick or use the tracking spell he had put on Dresden after the failed Dark hallow.

The tracking spell was his best bet.

"Voco Vestigi Conscientious" he invoked and immersed himself in the dormant tracking spell he had placed on Dresden

He felt a twinge towards his left. He walked a bit further and repeated the spell.

He knew a couple of more places in Chicago, so he apparated to an alley near the field museum, the place was bustling with people. He again tried the spell and could tell that Dresden was nearer than the last place. After a lot of walking and cross checking, He ended up at an abandoned Garage that needed an image consultant very badly. Graffiti was applied liberally to the walls and an old tarnished sign proclaimed that it once had been the FOOL MOON garage. Harry doubled back at that.

"Please don't let it be werewolves"

He wouldn't feel right killing werewolves because of Remus. At the thought of Remus, a pang of homesickness went through his heart. He ignored it.

He had a couple of choices now. He could don his invisibility cloak; get inside and apparate out with Dresden, and the other way was he could blast the door apart go inside, thrash the bad guys and walk out with Dresden in a dignified manner.

He wanted to do it the second way, It suited his badass image.

So there he went unleashing a high-powered Reducto that blew apart the door. Harry entered the room, his eyes adjusting to the lighting of the room. The garage had lain abandoned for some time as it was clear by the amount of dust accumulated in the area.

A truck lay abandoned inside the garage. In front of the truck standing still like a statue with the deer-in-the-headlights look on his face was Umbridge's brother. There was no other way to describe him. short with slick hair, bulging watery eyes, he looked the epitome of a frog-man or a man-frog. Not to mention he was holding a wicked looking gun in his hand. Before the frog dude got a funny idea , Harry yelled

"Stupefy"

The frog guy moved out of the spell with surprising agility. Supernatural speed, Harry could deal with it.

"Accio" Harry used the spell nonverbally so it was a surprised enemy who came flying out at him. He cancelled the spell mid way and before the man hit the ground Harry had stunned him.

Harry moved to the left of garage, eyes open for the rest of the bad guys.

He found Dresden and another man bound in a corner of the building. Dresden was grunting something undecipherable and the other guy yelled

"There's another one"

At the same time he felt a twinge of irrational fear. He turned around and saw a human shaped blur rushing towards him. He barely got out a nonverbal protego in time. A man hit his shield with the force of a bulldozer behind it. His shield shattered and before he could launch off another spell the man hit him and threw him back into the wall of the garage.

The impact kicked the wind out of him. He was afraid. He was away from any help, hell for crying out loud he was in an alternate universe. He had never fought anyone so fast, so powerful. He was afraid, truly afraid. He fell to his knees, his wand falling out of his grasp.

A man came in his vision. He was tall and handsome with fair hair. He was coming towards Harry as if in slow motion. Harry didn't want to fight. It was easy to give up. An old man's world rang in his ears.

"There will be a time when we must choose between what is _easy_ and _what is right"_

He bloody well wasn't going to give in to this good-looking bastard after so much he has done.

With a lot of effort Harry raised his occlumency shields and stood up. It took a huge amount of effort. He grunted in pain and stood up straight. The man walking towards him stopped, hesitated then the fear he had felt intensified, Harry grunted and was able to send a silent Sectumsempera towards the man.

The spell hit home, though at a lower power level still opened up a few gashes on the man's chest and blood a little too pale to be human dribbled out. The man panicked and ran out the front gate. Harry was too busy catching his breath to follow.

He reached Dresden and the other man.

"Alohomora" He opened the cuffs of the police officer.

"Are you hurt" He asked the police officer.

"I have been shot" the police officer rasped.

Dresden grunted something. Harry looked towards him and realized his mouth was stuffed with wads of paper.

"I am really tempted to leave you like this but maybe next time…"

With that he opened Dresden's cuff links and removed the paper.

"Thanks a lot" Dresden said.

Harry could not help but notice that Dresden's fingers were bent at unnatural angles.

"What happened to your hand" Harry asked him.

"I broke them. I was going to escape"

"Dresden, you wily genius. You broke your fingers to escape" Harry said in a dry sarcastic tone

"Oh shut up, we need to get Rawlins to the hospital"

Harry's demeanor turned serious.

"You help him walk, I will look out for any unfriendly thing and introduce it to spontaneous combustion. What to do with him?" Harry pointed towards the frog man he had stunned.

"His boss will come for him. We need to get out of here" Dresden said.

They exited the garage and took a left.

"Who was that guy" Harry asked Dresden

"Darby Crane, Movie Director"

"You make the strangest of enemies, Dresden"

"Did the Council send you?"

"Not officially, Luccio tipped me off about a ransom call, I came of my volition without breaking council regulations. This is the second time I have saved your bacon, you need to do better Dresden"

"You bloody brits and your nonsense metaphors"

"A man and his horse coming towards us"

"That's not a horse, that's my dog mouse"

"Great first sue the Dinosaur and now Mouse the wooly mammoth. You could give Hagrid a run for his money" Harry muttered

"He was small when I took him" Dresden countered

The dog reached Dresden and knocked him down and began licking him. Harry shifted his attention to the other guy. He was taller than Harry almost six feet with curling dark hair and a pale face. He looked good way too good so Harry extended his senses towards him and felt a cold, slithering aura about him

Harry pointed his wand towards the man and asked in a low tone

"What are you?"

The man's face deepened in a frown and Dresden butted in

"Hey come on potter, He is a vampire, white court but he is on our side"

Harry lowered his wand and said

"A vampire you say"

"Yeah, Thomas Raith" the vampire said

"hmmm do you perhaps sparkle?"

Dresden snorted. Thomas sputtered, red-faced and muttered

"If I ever meet Robert Pattinson, I will kill him"

"I have a van parked a block away, we can take it" Thomas offered.

"We need to get there quick, They shot Rawlins" Dresden said

"Damn, I forgot about it" Harry said

He waved his wand and stopped the bleeding on Rawlins's leg and muttered a pain numbing charm.

"You a healer" Thomas asked.

"I know a thing or two" Harry replied.

They started walking towards the van with the dog in lead Dresden carrying Rawlins, Harry and Thomas bringing up the rear. Just as they spotted the white van the dog mouse started growling, a deep sound that Harry felt as much as heard.

"Someone or something's here, everybody buckle up"

Harry instantly raised his guard, eyes darting around looking for any movement.

"… under a veil" Harry heard Dresden say.

Harry waved his wand around in a long arc from right to left while shouting

"_Specialis Revelio_"

a wave of blue energy left his wand and expanded outward in a shower of blue sparks. Ten yards away to his left the spell met someone under a veil where the conflicting energies led to the disruption on the veil and revealed the figure standing under it.

It was

"A Scarecrow…." Harry said in a somewhat confused voice.

Though this Scarecrow appeared as if he had taken steroids. It was easily nine feet tall with vines and sinews giving it a muscle structure which no scarecrow could have.

Meanwhile Dresden raised his staff and shouted

" Forzare"

Which the scarecrow simply absorbed …..eek.

This somewhat scared Harry as he had seen Dresden throw a dozen zombies at once with that spell.

Harry slashed his wand and shouted

"Sectumsempera"

The spell hit the creature and got absorbed by the scarecrow in a similar way to Dresden's spell.

"Okay guys, Plan B" Dresden sad

"What is it" Thomas asked

"Run like Hell" Dresden replied.

With this they separated into two groups. Dresden helping Rawlins along and Harry covering them and the other Thomas and mouse charging the scarecrow.

Thomas had whipped out a curved sword from nowhere and charged the scarecrow, while the dog was standing wide both legs braced, waiting for an opening, a faint blue aura surrounding him.

Harry saw Thomas take a running leap at the scarecrow and slashing at its limb, the scarecrow recoiled a bit from the sword but shook off the blow and threw a punch at Thomas which clipped him on the shoulder making him grunt from the pain.

"We need to distract it, to give them a chance to hit it" Dresden muttered

"What is it?" Harry shouted

"A phobophage, a faerie creature that feeds on fear"

"Why didn't you say so before?"

Harry was pretty sure he had one ace of a spell which would work on the scarecrow.

Harry remembered the day he had saved Sirius from the dementors, the happiness he felt on getting a parental figure, the joy he had felt when he realized he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursley's.

He let that emotion fill him, could feel the joy, the happiness. He reached inside him, made the happiness the basis of the spell and let loose with

"EXPECTO PATRONUM"

A Silver ethereal stag erupted from the end of the elder wand and charged towards the scarecrow. For a second everything stopped, it's not everyday you see a stag come out of nowhere.

The stag charged and butted the scarecrow with its antlers causing the scarecrow to cry out in pain and falling back to avoid the stag.

Thomas and mouse did not miss a beat and renewed their attack more enthusiastically.

For a moment it looked like that they would overwhelm the scarecrow and kill it but then the scarecrow threw off Thomas with his hand and got up.

Suddenly a pair of wings sprouted off from the scarecrow's back and it took to the air. It rapidly flew away. Harry watched it till it was a speck in the sky.

When he returned his gaze to the ground he saw Dresden, Mouse and Thomas surrounding Prongs.

"What is it" Thomas and Dresden asked at the same time.

"It is a magical construct primarily composed of positive memories and emotions to fend off creatures of darkness"

"WOW" Dresden commented "I can't even imagine how complex that would be"

Suddenly they heard a grunt and looked towards Rawlins.

The poor guy was sitting on the pavement and was very pale.

"We need to get him to a hospital quickly"

Harry cancelled the patronus and all of them got into the van.

They soon dropped Rawlins at the Emergency room.

After admitting Rawlins at the hospital all of them walked back to the van. Thomas began Driving

"So, why are phobophages and white court vampires following you around Dresden"

"You can trust Thomas, he is a friend"

"I was talking about Darby crane"

"Let,s see, A couple of days ago I received a tip-off about black magic from Rashid, I inspected it and found it to originate at a Horror convention.

Somebody, a mortal practitioner was acting as a beacon for the phobophages and attacking the fans. 3 people have died so far" Here Dresden's voice cracked

a little but he continued

"Crane or should I say Madrigal Raith was an added bonus."

"OK, What are we going to do now"

"Last time the phages attacked the convention, I was able to divert them back to the person who was summoning them. I am going to track the person down

if he or she is still alive"

"Tit for tat, I like that" Thomas said from the driver's seat.

Dresden put together a crude little spell for after the phage's trail.

They followed Dresden's directions until they reached a nice suburban neighborhood and stopped at a large housed based off Victorian design with white picket fences and a huge garden.

Harry felt something was wrong and it was confirmed as he looked at Dresden who was very pale and looking horrified.

The van stopped and they got out.

"You look in the garden and Backyard, I will look in the house" Dresden said to them all, his hands were shaking and he was sweating.

They followed his lead and immediately found some blood marks leading to the tree-house in the backyard. Thomas climbed to the tree-house and brought down a boy aged thirteen or fourteen.

The boy had a few nicks and cuts on his face and hands and he was babbling incoherently.

Thomas left him and Mouse with the boy and went inside to fetch Dresden.

Harry healed the nicks and cuts on the boy's body and used a calming charm on him.

Along with some words of sympathy and understanding, he was able to calm down the boy.

Dresden and Thomas came back to talk with the boy.

Dresden said

"Daniel, I am Harry Dresden, You remember me right, What happened?"

"They came Hammer-hands, The Reaper and the scarecrow. They took Molly with her. I tried to stop them but I could not. They were too strong"

A look of fear came over Dresden's face but he recovered and asked

"Where are your Mum and the kids"

"In the Panic room on the first floor"

Dresden left to find the rest of the family. In a few minutes Dresden came out carrying two kids and following him was a woman along with a boy and two girls.

The woman immediately rushed to Daniel's side and hugged him while a little girl aged about nine came to Harry and asked him

" Who are you"

"I am Harry" he told her

"There is already a Harry, You can be ...Jerry"

Thomas snorted at that and the lady focused her attention on them.

She looked at Thomas and said

"You are that Vampire my husband once worked with"

"Yes Ma'am" he replied

"And you are" She asked Harry in a commanding tone betraying no fear.

"Harry Potter Mam,"

She looked towards Dresden and he said

"They are working with us and will help us get Molly back"

"Thank You" She whispered.

"We should get the kids to Father Forthill, Charity"

Charity nodded and went towards her garage.

A moment later she came out with a sparkling white van.

They got the kid's settled down and left for holy sanctuary.

A/N: Hey readers, a request. My short story has been shortlisted in a competition. Do check it out and vote for me by liking it through Facebook

Here's the link Copy the link in your browser and replace dot with . and remove the space. Fan fiction is irritating this way

wwwdotkaarwaanexpressdotcom/writing-competition/sh ortlisted-stories/casualties-of-war

Thanks

Enjoy. reviews will be appreciated.


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